Riverlife Village to expand Wausau office building from three to five stories tall

WAUSAU - Riverlife Village developers will expand its mixed-use commercial building along the east bank of the Wisconsin River from three to five stories.

Quantum Ventures CEO Mike Frantz announced the change during a Wausau Finance Committee meeting Tuesday night. Frantz said there's a high demand for office space in that building, which will be near the Wausau on Water restaurant and entertainment center, and that the addition will help drive down construction costs.

The overall cost of the project will go up to $27 million, Frantz said. The city's $2.7 million contribution will stay the same. In addition to the retail and office building, the project includes a high-end, 52-unit apartment building and two three-unit townhomes.

The announcement came hours after Quantum said Frantz would assume full ownership of the company and replace Jason Sharkey as CEO. The shakeup followed revelations that Sharkey was part of a company in the early 2000s that conned several Colorado residents into investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in a sham real estate fund.

Frantz addressed the controversy in a statement at the start of the meeting, defending Sharkey and lamenting some of the response to Sharkey's past.

"When did the city of Wausau become a city known for denying someone a second chance of redemption?" he said.

In response to the Sharkey revelations, Wausau Mayor Robert Mielke said his administration will recommend that the city include primary investors in its background-checking process while seeking proposals from developers.

Frantz told the committee that construction on the building foundations will wrap up by the end of the week. Construction will be delayed for two weeks to ensure financing is in order, he said, particularly in the wake of the new addition and the loss of an investor.

Frantz said they should be able to make up that time now that the weather is improving and he doesn't expect the project to fall behind overall. He also said there won't be any delay in meeting construction benchmarks or payments.